(San Francisco) The American brokerage platform Robinhood said Monday that it had suffered a cyberattack, but without a priori financial consequences for the five million users whose email addresses were stolen.
“According to our investigation, the attack was brought under control. We believe that no tax IDs, bank account numbers or debit cards have been disclosed and that there has been no financial loss for our customers, ”the California-based company said in a statement.
The hacker allegedly set up a fake customer service telephone line, which he used to gain access to computer systems, on November 3.
In all, this person has collected 5 million email addresses, the full names of 2 million people, and personal information (names, dates of birth, postal codes) for approximately 310 of them.
“After we contained the intrusion, the unauthorized third party blackmailed us for money. We have informed the police and we continue to investigate the incident “with the help of a cybersecurity firm, said Robinhood.
The application popularized commission-free brokerage and helped revive the interest of small savers in the stock market, especially among young adults.
When it went public in late July, it had more than 22 million users and the median account balance was $ 240.30.
Data breaches and ransomware attacks have increased in recent years against organizations and businesses, to the point of crippling them in some cases.
At the beginning of May, the Colonial pipeline network, the main source of gasoline supply for most of the American East, had thus been temporarily shut down after such an attack. The group had paid 4.4 million dollars to regain control of its facilities.
According to the US Treasury, $ 590 million in ransoms was paid in the United States alone in the first half of 2021, up from 416 in 2020.